Shades of Red
by LittleFlowerLei
Summary: A bite from a vampire keeps her away. How can she consentrait on learning the vampire ways when all she can think about is her sick daughter? With the possibility of her daughter's death looming over her, Alice can do nothing but watch and wait. ch 5 up.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

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Alice Fauna starred at herself in the mirror as she painted her make up on her face like paint on a blank canvas. She always considered herself to be a "Plain Jane" kind of person. Nevertheless her best friend was a lively, sociable, athletic, tomboyish woman named Bobbie Parts. 

Bobbie had talked Alice into going with her to a nightclub in the city. It was a cute little club where Bobbie visited every night that she could. She described it as a "Night Owl's Haven" Which ironically enough was the _name _of the night club. None the less, it was a neon filled; black-bricked building that always had a live band, and a big mosh-pit.

Little did either of them know that going to the night club that particular night had dire consequences. Mostly to Alice, whose life was going to end within the next 8 hours.

"Momma?" She looked away from her mirror, and gave her gaze to a little bald girl in a light pink silk night gown, holding her teddy bear to her chest. Alice gave the little girl a smile before leaving her vanity mirror to approach her.

"Yes baby? Do you feel sick?" The little bald girl shook her head; her silver eyes were clouded with anguish, misery, and austereness; Things that should never be in the eyes of a six and a half year old.

"No momma, but when can I go back to school?" Alice bit her lower lip, and knelt down to her daughter's height. It was so hard to see the worry and despair in her eyes, especially at such a young age. But what else could be in a child's eyes when, at six years old; she was told she had cancer.

"Not yet baby, but soon; I promise." If she had a dime for every time she told her daughter that she said 'soon, I promise' she would have enough money to buy the best cancer treatment in the world.

Alice looked upon her daughter's pale face for the last time that night. She would never again be able to know that within her daughter, slept the child she'd given birth to; the smart, bubbly, sociable little girl who could easily make friends. She wouldn't be able to see her daughter beat the cancer, grow up into a beautiful woman, and meet and marry a wonderful man who loved, and cherished her. Those were large chunks of her life that Alice would have to abandon, because she would die that night.

"Alice!" Rang out the voice her sister, Amelia, who she recruited to watch over Lindsay (her daughter) while she was out that night.

"Up here Amelia!" Alice called back down to her elder sister as Lindsay left her mother's side to be bundled up in the arms of her aunt.

Amelia Reverend was a character to say the least. She was an oddball aunt who was always more than happy to take care of her niece while Alice went out for any given reason. She cherished the time she had with Lindsay, since she had a feeling that she wouldn't get better. But she never voiced her feeling to anyone.

While Amelia pampered Lindsay like she was a princess, Alice was allowed to keep getting ready to leave. She'd put on a short black skirt, knee-high combat boots, a black tank top over a red one, and had given her hair a winded look. Her silvery eyes were flattered by the black eye shadow and eyeliner, and her lips were given a full, soft look thanks to her red lipstick.

Once she was ready to go, she made her way down stairs, and saw her sister, a black-haired beauty queen who had always cast a shadow over Alice, sitting with her niece on the sofa; her full pregnant belly preventing any normal hugs or contact for that matter.

"Look at _you_!" Exclaimed Amelia, trying to push herself up off the sofa without looking foolish- this was not accomplished. She let herself fall back down onto the red cushioned sofa and back into the cracks between the cushions and the back of the sofa. "You don't look like a mother. Are you trying to pick up some guys?"

"Heavens no," Alice said to her sister. She knew Amelia knew that she was always loyal to her husband; who was always working. Little did she know that he was working on a little more than being a good nightclub owner. "You know I love Ronald. Well anyway, Bobbie and I are having a girl's night out. She's probably planning on picking someone up though."

Just as her statement came to a close, her front door swung open, once it had closed and the person had walked to the arch leading to the living room, everyone saw it was Bonnie. Bonnie had a fire red tube top on with a short, tight skirt reaching just barely past her thighs. Her black hair was put up in a style similar to Elvira's; except with numerous black and bright pink highlights going every which way. Her outfit completely overshadowed Alice's.

"Howdy ya'll, Ready Alice? Good, you wore the outfit I let you borrow. Howdy there Amelia, how's life treating you Lindsay?" Bobbie was anything but sensitive, and she had a knack for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. Asking a six year old girl with cancer how life was treating her wasn't exactly the best thing to ask. Because obviously it wasn't good. So Alice quickly got Bobbie out before she frightened anyone anymore.

As they went into the nightclub, Alice was drenched in a feeling that made her want to turn and leave. It was a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her something was going to happen that night, it didn't say what exactly; how wrong she was not to head the warning before it was too late.

Bobbie almost immediately left Alice once they were completely in the nightclub. Alice watched, nearly helpless, as her friend abandoned her to join in the creatures of the night, and Alice- was not quite one of them. She shrugged her newfound loneliness off, and mused over the paradox of feeling lonely in a room full of people.

"Pardon me" came a strong voice beside her. She had a feeling that wasn't the person's normal tone, because it strained to be loud enough for her to hear over the blaring of the amplifiers. Alice turned and saw a tall man in leather pants and wearing a leather jacket over a white muscle shirt. His hair was a magnificent mane of sangria (burnt) red, while his eyes were shadowed from the neon lights. "I noticed you walking in with you're flamboyant friend, and looking rather lonely, might I request a dance?" She noticed his odd speech, like he was plucked out of a historical romance novel, he spoke with such old English that she automatically labeled him a cad, but had agreed to dance with him. Bobbie had always said: "The whole fun of going to a nightclub with a friend is so you can dance with a stranger."

How sad it is that _exact_ less-than philosophical quote was what cost Alice everything.

Alice had taken notice that he was an astonishing dancer. He had moved with such grace and swiftness that he almost blended in with the music. She was an awkward dancer, surprisingly enough for being a nightclub owner's wife; she never went out to nightclubs very often. She was worried it was painfully obvious, but the stranger helped her out of her shell a bit, about as much as a 3 minute song would allow.

The stranger's dancing ceased with the music, and he'd given Alice a grin, where she saw two pointed teeth. It wasn't a surprise though, a lot of people wore fake fangs to nightclubs; Ronald told her that.

"They think it makes them a vampire" He mused one night while he sucked on her neck, he'd said that long ago; long before their diseased daughter came into the world and began to suffer. "I never understood that fetish though." And that fading memory alone made her less afraid of the man, vampires didn't exist; they were like the monsters in the closet she had to take care of for Lindsay.

Once their dance had ended, the stranger treated her to a drink of wine. He obviously was flirting with her that much even a blind person could see. But Alice refused to acknowledge his flirtatious attempts; but enjoyed being admired by a man once again. It was as if for that night, nothing else existed. She wasn't a housewife who had to care for her sick child without any help from her so-called husband, as far as she was concerned, she was a 25 year old spinster who had attracted the attention of a handsome stranger.

But just as quickly as her momentary salvation had come, she immediately realized what she was doing, and refused to cheat on her husband, and rebuffed to stop thinking about her daughter's health. She always put her family before her self, and she had no right to even be at the nightclub that night.

When her realization finally cleared her vision, she saw his icy hand on her forearm, as if he were going to reach for the strap of her tank top. Jumping back, she swatted his hand away from her, and immediately sought out Bobbie to tell her she wanted to leave.

But as she left, she felt him grab her by her elbow.

"Stay" He ordered, his voice was hard as stone, it was no longer that gentle, kind voice he had before. Her sudden change had infuriated him.

"No" She pulled her elbow back, but he kept his death grip on it.

"I want to be with you a little more." She pulled her elbow away, and shouted at him

"No means no!" She'd heard Amelia say that once, she never had to use it until that night, she was never the kind of person to get raped; no one ever wanted to rape her anyway. As good as that seemed, it was still hurtful to know she wasn't good enough or pretty enough to be raped.

She found Bobbie in a back room drinking with a bunch of line-backer sized men, each ogling her chest as if it held some sort of treasure that could make them billionaires. They were probably going to fight over her very soon, and she had a look on her face as if she enjoyed every second of it.

"Bobbie, can we go? I don't feel comfortable here anymore." But she very much doubted that Bonnie was going to agree to take her home when she was obviously having a blast.

"Aww, stay a little longer Alice; please? Here, you see Toni over there? You can have him."

"I don't want Toni and-" she looked over at Toni, and saw he was wearing his pants so low that she could see his blue and white checkered boxer shorts. Immediately, she put her hands on her hips and began scolding him. "You, pull you're pants up! I know you're mother would be ashamed to know her son was wearing his pants like that-"

"Alice-! Stop being all paternal! Here, take the keys, I'll be along in a moment." Bobbie reasoned, taking her keys on the silver ring out of her purse and dropping them in Alice's palm.

Those were the last words Bobbie would ever say to her.

Alice hurried out of the bar, wanting to put the whole night behind her. She wanted to go home and dote over her daughter, to call her husband on his cell phone just to tell him that she loved him, and just- to put the whole night behind her.

But just as she made her way to Bobbie's cute little red Mercedes, she had a strange feeling someone was following her. She turned her head, and nothing. Gulping, she hurried to the car, all the while; hearing anonymous footsteps

She whipped around again, and still no one was there. As she reached Bobbie's car, she quickly fumbled with the keys, trying to pick out the car key, she knew which one it was; but the feeling of being watched made her fidgety and unable to reason.

Before long, she felt herself being grabbed from behind, and almost immediately; she remembered the day she told Lindsay what to do if she was in that situation.

So she screamed like hell.

Alice kicked, lashed, screamed, and fought. She cried out for help, and she even managed to give Bobbie's bumper on her car a good swift kick, but it didn't do anything to the car; all it did was hurt Alice's foot. But that was the very least of her problems.

"HELP!" She screamed with all her might, before she knew it, whoever grabbed her had pushed her down on the car next to Bobbie's, and pinned her arms and legs down on the trunk.

It was the man from the bar, the one with red hair.

She screamed again, thrashing wildly and demanding that he let her go. It wasn't long before he gave her a good smack across the face, and ordered that she'd stop it.

"I'm doing this either way missy, you might as well cooperate; it'll be less painful on you." But she screamed anyway. Her screaming became an inaudible strain as he clamped his mouth down on her neck, and something sharp and pointed created a painful stabbing feeling in her neck, a lot worse than getting a needle in the arm, it was so painful that it was hard for her to describe.

The stranger lifted his lips off her neck, and she saw they were stained with bright red crimson liquid that glistened in the moonlight. She could hardly breathe, and he had a proud smile on his face, two tiny fangs poking out of his mouth. He wasn't just some vampire obsessed clubber; he was the real deal, because she felt herself dying.

"You're so pretty…" He cooed; brushing his hand along her face, the ice in his touch was painful, along with everything else that had happened to her. "…it's such a waste, to let such a pretty thing die…" She no longer felt anything anymore, she was short of breath, and could feel her soul being lifted out of her body. She couldn't feel, but she could see. The stranger had bitten his wrist, and held it over her mouth. "Drink…drink and be mine…You would make an exceptional mate…" He spoke so crudely that she refused to drink. She would take death over being his mate any day of the week. She didn't even know him, but one thought alone made her grab his wrist and put it to her lips.

Lindsay…she needed her mother.

She had to live, she had to be this man's "Mate" for Lindsay's sake, she wouldn't let her baby go through her sickness alone, she needed her mother, and her mother would be there; even if it meant leaving her husband to become a creature of the night.

His blood slid down her throat, and made her want to vomit. She didn't want to drink his- or anyone else's for that matter- blood. But she had Lindsay to think about, she wasn't some lonely spinster who could die and no one would notice. Amelia had a baby on the way, and couldn't afford Lindsay's treatment, and Ronald was never home. Lindsay depended on Alice, and damn it if she wouldn't be there.

But as she pulled her mouth away from his wrist, she saw he had a sinister grin on his face right before she fell back against the back window of the car they were on, creating a large crack where her head was. Alice had died.

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**Hi ppl! This fic is actually a rough draft of a novel I'm going to redo some other time. I'm going to buy a program for my computer to help me turn it into a best seller, and I'm only putting it on fanfiction so I can get some critique and maybe some tips on how to improve it later.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

As fast as she was taken from the humanity she knew, Alice's unexplained vanishing became national. Bobbie was questioned by the police as to how the evening went about; and Bobbie didn't have much to say.

"At 8:00 that night, I went to pick her up at her house. 8:00 to 8:45 we drove to the club, and from 8:45 until 2:30 I didn't hear from her. At 2:30 she came and told me she wanted to leave. I gave her the car keys and I assumed she went to the car. But when I left at 3:45, she wasn't anywhere to be found."

Ronald was worried sick over Alice, Lindsay cried her eyes out and refused to leave her room, Amelia had to be told time and time again by her husband Chuck to calm down for the baby's sake; but she wouldn't. She was worried over her sister, and ended up staying in Lindsay's room with her. They tried to calm each other down, but both were sealed with worry.

Alice never felt as bad as she did that night. Her world had been stolen from her; but she hadn't realized it until she woke up that next night. She hadn't passed out from the blood of the stranger, but out of sheer fright. She was terrified that she would die and- until she woke up- it seemed like she had.

It was all a dream. She dreamt she'd gone to the "Night Owl's Haven" nightclub and had met a handsome redhead man, who at first seemed to be very sweet. But in the end- it turned out he was a vampire, and he wanted her to be his mate. It was such a ludicrous dream that she doubted it was real. It had to be a dream-

She sat up, and it only took her a few seconds to realize she wasn't at home. She was in a large, red room with a white boarder around the walls. She was lying on a canopy bed with black and red silk sheets; not far from the bed she could see a round table with a black lace table cloth with no cups on it, and a changing screen on the far end of the room. The room had hard wood floors with a big, red; antique looking, area rug from the bed and to the east of the room.

The celine above her was pointed, so she had a feeling she was in an upstairs bedroom. It had a window, but the outside was shielded by two black, velvet curtains. The room was very depressing, So much so that she almost went back to her dream; at least there she knew it wasn't real.

It took her a few minutes to realize she wasn't wearing what she was wearing the night before; she'd been changed into an elegant black silk nightgown with a dark red lace trim. As attractive and stylish as it was, she was still disturbed at the fact that someone had undressed her and then re-dressed her.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her neck. So sharp that she had to clamp her hand down over two tiny punctures in her neck, it was still sore from the night before, and regrettably, she knew it wasn't a dream. She had been bitten by one of two things: A maniac, or a vampire.

When she looked over at the dresser on the other end of the room, she saw two separate vases of roses. One was in a tall, curvy, stained glass vase with red roses and yellow roses mixed together.

The one right next to it was filled with only lavender colored roses. It was in a vase similar to the other roses, but it wasn't stained glass that time, that glass was merely just- glass.

"About time you woke up" Alice's head shot towards the door, where she saw a pale man with one silver eye, and one extremely light blue eye that didn't blink. Across the blue eye, the man had a scar going from an inch and a half above his eyebrow down to his cheekbone. He was leaning on a wooden cane with his hand resting on a diamond.

"Who are you?" Alice snapped cautiously, moving like a frightened cat that she'd seen once. She kept away from him, and refused to get any closer. The man just smiled, and looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Calm down Alice, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Aldan-"

"How do you know my name?"

"You had a driver's license in your purse," He clarified. "Now please stop being so jittery. You need to calm down and listen to me," She was silent, so he continued on with what he had to say. "Fang had wanted to celebrate you're becoming a vampire, but it seems that you've slept through it. So…"

"I'm a-" he cut her off by nodding gleefully. As if being a vampire was the best thing in the world. Swiftly, Alice got off the bed and looked around for a mirror, but when she found one, she had no reflection. "-I am…!"

"A vampire, yes. Fang will guide you so you needn't-"

"_Who_ the hell is Fang?"

"…you don't know?" Alice shook her head. "Redhead, tall, very pale-"

"That guy from the club!" Alice exclaimed in a hurry, he was the only pale redhead at the nightclub that had any ties to her, and she knew it was him who bit her. She saw a slightly irritated look fall over Aldan's face before he shook it off. "So where is…Fang?"

"Feeding, he should be back in a few hours or so. Which reminds me, are you hungry?" She shook her head, she would starve as long as she had to, she didn't want to drink any blood, she was not a vampire; no matter how many times Aldan told her she was.

Aldan had later found her some clothes to wear. They weren't women's clothes, but she didn't complain. He gave her a fluffy white shirt from the 1800's or so, a pair of black leather pants, and a pair of socks. He left her alone to dress, and as she did, she starred at her lack of reflection in the mirror.

Once she was dressed, she spotted the window. Quickly, she ran over to it and looked outside. It was pitch dark, but surprisingly enough she could see through the dark. She opened the window, and climbed onto the ledge. She swallowed hard; it was a very long way down; so much so that she almost climbed back into the room and took her chances with the vampires.

"Alice, are you almost finished?" Aldan asked after fifteen minutes of complete silence. His voice startled her, and caused her to fall off the ledge. The only response Aldan got was a loud scream.

She was sure that this time she really was dead. Her body had hit the ground with such a force that she felt her knees buckle under the weight of her torso, and the weight of the gravity come crashing down on her little stick legs. She shut her eyes tight, and waited for the time that she would fall back.

Of course- she did fall back, her legs did break; and the shooting pain in both her legs knocked her out once again.

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**Everyone wish me a happy birthday! Tomorrow is my birthday! I turn 16 YAYME! But omg, I have to go to the DENTIST on my birthday. That just sux.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Alice seemed to have a problem with fainting. It was an increasingly nasty habit that she had to stop, but for the time being, she had in fact fainted at the intense pain, and when she regained contousness; Fang-the redhead vampire from the bar- sat beside her bed with a book in his hands.

She remained down as if she was still asleep, although she was searching for something to smack him over the head with. Had she been thinking clearly at that moment, she would have realized that when she saw the candelabra on the end table by the bed- she couldn't get it. For two reasons: 1) because Fang was a vampire and vampires had exceptional sensory skills. 2) Even if she could knock him out, she couldn't go anywhere. Her legs were broken.

Bit by bit, she inched herself over to the side of the large bed. She cursed those vampires for making the bed seem so wide. Her legs ached with every little movement she made, and she had a feeling she'd get caught. It was too far for her to even have a hope of a decent escape.

Fang heard her moving, and gave her his gaze. She gave him an innocent smirk; trying to look as if she hadn't been thinking of smacking him over the head with a candelabra and making an escape. He put a bookmark in his book, all the while speaking to her.

"That was a pretty brainless move." Fang hissed at her seductively as he placed his book on the end table. "A fledgling like you trying an escape like that. You should have at least had a fear of dying left over from or mortality. Weren't you afraid a little?" She didn't move.

"I wasn't planning on falling out the window." She snapped back at him. "That Aldan guy scared me." Fang grinned, showing two tiny fangs in his mouth. Alice gulped hard; it had been so long since she was this close to a man as handsome as Fang- if she had ever been. Ronald was handsome in his day- but not like Fang. Fang had a timeless beauty about him; probably because he was a vampire.

"Aldan does that, don't mind him, he wouldn't hurt a fly." She felt him raise his icy hand and brush her hair out of her face. Quickly, she moved away from him, and thrust her right hand in front of his face. Her wedding ring glistened in the small amount of light in the room, and she was glad it did.

"Don't" She snapped. "I'm married. Besides that- even if I wasn't I'd never be into a man like you." But as angry as she sounded, Fang just laughed. He grabbed her hand, and slid her wedding ring off her finger.

"Until death," He said as he put the ring in the pockets in his pants. "You're dead Alice Fauna. She was speechless; he had such a damn good point.

She opened her mouth to say something more, to challenge his logic and to simply state that in all fairness, she hadn't had a funeral, nor was she six feet below ground. As far as she was concerned, she was not dead. But everything she'd planned to say was swallowed when Fang forcefully clasped her mouth with his. She didn't fight back at first, she was surprised. She actually kind of liked it- but immediately, she pushed him off her and spat.

"Don't do that!" She yelled at him as he was pushed away. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm not dead, nor am I a vampire. This is just some crazy dream and I'll wake up from it sooner or later." That was an even stupider thing to say to him, because he began to laugh again.

"You can't deny what you are now. You think this is a dream?" She slowly nodded, but just as she nodded he lifted her hand up off the bed and bit into her wrist. She screamed at the pain, and swatted her wrist away from him. He'd punctured two tiny holes in her wrist, and her crimson blood was leaking out of the holes. "Do you see now? You're a vampire, this isn't a dream, and you're dead to the world." Her face went whiter than any vampire's face could- which was surprisingly white. The dark circles around her eyes became darker, and slowly she began to sob. Fang just sat on the bed, watching her choke on the air she breathed, and as tears came down her face. "Stop you're howling, here, bite my wrist. It'll heal you're legs up faster." She shook her head, and tried to hide her sobs by crumbling into a feeble position. "Fine, stay in bed for six weeks. But you'll want to get some sleep when morning gets here. Hey! You can go stand out in the sun if you don't believe me, a little fledgling like you will burn up within seconds. That'll be a sight for the security cameras." But his cruelty made her sob harder.

Fang retired to his bedroom down the stairs. He was tired of her wailing, and knew that in due time she would accept that she'd been changed into a vampire and had to give up everything she loved. He had, and so have vampires before them. Vampires from before the dawn of time had learned to deal with it, and so would she.

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**Yeah, I know it's short. Huzzah for my one reviewer thus far! Omg, for my birthday I got the following: 2 nightmare before Christmas T-shirts, 2 Sweeny Todd posters, and 1 box of nightmare before Christmas stuffed animals. My friends are coming over on Saturday and I'll get presents from them later.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Eventually, Alice grew restless just sitting in bed for six weeks, so she agreed to drink Fang's blood so her legs could heal faster. It was just as bad the first time, if not worse since she had the sharp pain her mouth when her fangs grew and became long enough and pointed enough to break the skin.

As his blood coursed through her, healing her legs slowly but surely, she devised a new escape plan. Fang had told her that when her legs healed, he would take her into the city to teach her how to be a vampire.

Fang never referred to her as 'Alice' but instead as 'Fledgling'. Something that quickly became irritating, but she said nothing.

Sighing slowly, Alice just starred out the window she fell from, gazing through the dark with her broken leg propped up on a stool near the red velvet chair where she sat.

Out there, she knew her daughter waited for her to come home. Outside the castle, back in her suburban neighborhood that she'd taken for granted waited her sister with Alice's incubating niece or nephew inside her sat on the porch swing, waiting for Alice to come to her house to chat.

That life seemed too simple before, and there were times when she wished for something more. But as she sat in the fortress with the two vampires waiting for her to realize her fate and join them as creatures of the night- she realized how much she missed her simple life.

_Stay strong baby…_Alice thought to herself, her daughter's image in her mind. _I'll be home soon…I promise…_

Heaving a heavy sigh, Alice looked back at her book. She'd re-read the same sentence six times before she became distracted. Fang had kept her alive while she was bed ridden by making her feed off of him. He only let her take so much, and it was only that much that she was willing to take. She still was sick to her stomach at the idea of drinking blood; she couldn't even handle seeing blood in horror movies.

She jumped when a small, four legged feline jumped on her lap, and looked up at her with an innocent looking face. It had large yellow eyes, and a shiny black coat. The cat meowed at her, placing its front paws on her breasts and lifting itself up so it could lick her face with its rough- almost prickly- tongue.

Alice gave the cat a tiny grin and scratched its head gently, receiving a low purring noise. Alice had always been fond of cats, ever since she was eight and almost got mauled by a pit bull. Even though she was sure it was just that breed of dog she was frightened of, she still refused to anywhere near a place with dogs.

"I see you met Asha" Alice jumped again, causing the cat to scurry off her lap and through the open door. Alice looked to the voice owner, and saw it was none other than Aldan. "Asha is Fang's cat."

"Why would Fang have any need for me if he's got that cat?" Alice asked point-blank. She wanted to know why- of all people- he chose her to be his "Mate" She saw Aldan raise his black eyebrows and sit on her bed so he could rest his bad leg.

"You know Alice; a cat isn't enough to sooth the loneliness that mortality brings. He's been a vampire for a little over 200 years now, so he's still very young."

"That doesn't answer my question." Alice brought that fact to his attention, finding it irritating that he had not answered her question like she'd wanted him to.

"I'm not at liberty to answer it." He answered bluntly, causing Alice to become more irritated, and even further depressed. She returned her gaze to the window, hoping Aldan would leave her alone. "But if you want- I can drop in on you're family and assure them that you're fine, and maybe I can let you know how they're doing." Alice's head shot towards him, hope glistening in her eyes. He saw it in the pale moonlight.

"You can do that?"

"I can, you can't. Just make sure you write down on a piece of paper that I'm not some lunatic. If they recognize you're handwriting, they'll probably allow me to get a message to you." Alice's hope faded, she wanted to go with him; she wanted to see her family again. To see her beautiful daughter look up at her as if she had all the answers, and to see her sister, carrying life around with her wherever she went. Solemnly, Alice nodded. "Brilliant, Tomorrow night I'll be sure to go see them." She nodded again, and watched Aldan as he exited the room; and once again she was left alone with the hope that she would see her family again.

Alice shut her eyes, and could almost see her child, her beautiful little daughter scurrying around the house at the age of one and a half years; with no idea that a few years later, all the hope would leave her eyes. Her majestic mane of black hair would fall away, and she would become so fragile and in poor health that she would not be allowed to school.

A single tear fell down her face as she pictured herself without her daughter, her baby aging as she stayed the same. Even if she could go and see Lindsay again- she would become a withered old woman while Alice stayed 25 years old. She would wither and die- if the cancer didn't get her first.

Fang sat in the main room, with a book in his hand. He had a TV, but seldom used it. In his years on earth, he knew that nothing could be gained from the television, but everything could be gained from a book. He wasn't reading the book however, he was writing in it with a modern ball point pen.

The pages were blank until he wrote on them, pausing only every so often to gather his thoughts and sort them out in chronological order. His pen jerked to the side when Aldan walked by the sofa and gave Fang a light tap on his head.

"What was that for?" Fang snarled at Aldan, who was looking very proud of himself at that moment. Aldan glided over to a red velvet chair similar to the one in Alice's room, and propped his cane up against the side of the chair.

"You're into that again?" He asked, referring to the journal.

"Like you said- anything to deal with eternity." Fang smirked at Aldan, who was nodding at him.

"I meant something like devoting your time to the coven," Aldan paused, before continuing. "Or a special lady." Fang's smirk faded into another angry snarl as he continued to scratch away in his journal. "You're thinking about her again aren't you?"

"She's the kind of person that's hard to forget Aldan." Fang said coldly, scratching the face of a round-faced woman with long hair. She had gentle features, and soft looking lips. "Not for me anyhow. Thanks to you-"

"Yes, yes I know." Aldan interrupted, a sour expression spreading itself on his features. "But what about Alice?"

"What about her? She obviously doesn't want this."

"See? And that's exactly why I told you not to do anything irrational. But no, you're primal instincts got in the way didn't they? Had you taken the time to get to know her, to woo her- she wouldn't be so angry. But she had a life Fang, one that didn't involve becoming a vampire. I'm going to take a message to her family tomorrow night and tell them that no harm has come to her. They have that right at least." Fang's snarl deepened as he scratched harder in the notebook, nearly breaking the pen. "Rachel didn't take to you automatically either, did she?" Fang shook his head slowly.

"No…"

"Then take the time to talk to Alice. She could still change her mind about being a vampire. But taking away her wedding ring and forcing her to drink you're blood isn't exactly the courtship fledglings are used to. Or anyone for that matter." Fang heaved a deep sigh, closed the notebook, and left without a word. Aldan knew he'd gotten through to Fang, because he always left he room when he knew he couldn't win an argument.

Aldan only wished he could convince Alice that Fang wasn't as bad as he came off to be, he only wanted to tell her that he'd gone through a lot in his 200 years- she seemed like the kind of woman who would understand.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"C'mon Fledgling, just like I showed you." Fang and Alice stood on top of a tall tower at the castle. A good distance from them stood another tower, where Alice was to glide. But she was afraid, and Fang had showed her over and over again how it was done, and told her he wouldn't let her get hurt.

Aldan had gone to her family not but a few days or so before, and had given them the notice that she was OK. He had managed to get them on camera, and seeing their faces again made her weep. She hadn't been gone all that long, but it felt like an eternity since she saw her beautiful daughter's face, and her sister's radiant smile.

"Fang I don't know…" Alice said as she hesitated. "I might fall again; I don't want to break my legs all over again."

"You won't." He assured her. "I'm not going to let you fall." Aldan had also given Fang the tip to start being a little nicer to her. He had said that a woman was not seduced by cruelty and brutality. If he had tried to be nicer to her, she might come over to him on her own; but Fang very much doubted that. But had agreed to go along with it when Aldan used that age old analogy 'you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar' to hell with flies, he wanted a _woman_. "I'll be right here if anything goes wrong, but trust me- it won't."

"Can't I just go back inside and watch that tape Aldan got for me?" She begged, thanks to the fall from her window, she was terrified of trying to fly. Fang shook his head at her.

"You're going to have to learn this sooner or later. Don't you trust me to catch you?"

"Not particularly." She replied rudely. "You haven't given me much reason _to_ trust you." He did know she had a point. Attacking her in a parking lot of a nightclub and stealing her away from her family wasn't exactly grounds on which trust could build.

"Look, would it make you feel any better if I was waiting on the other tower? I could catch you if you fall." As sweet as that statement sounded, Alice was just too afraid to try it. She didn't like heights, and one of the reasons was from when she fell out of the window. "You don't need to worry about falling again, like I said, if you fall, I'll catch you."

"…Promise?"

"I promise." Fang assured her, and in one swift movement, had left her side to go to the other tower. He planned to help her onto the tower's ledge, since it was a tiny bit higher than the tower where she stood. But he wasn't going to let her fall that much he knew. "Come on," He called to her when she hesitated. "I promise nothing will happen to you."

She believed him, really she did. But she couldn't get her legs to move. Her mind was telling her that he would catch her; she had nothing to worry about. One swift jump and she could probably make it, which was how Fang did it anyway. Vampires seem to glide on air when they jump; she just wondered how he traveled across town. But then again- she would probably learn that later. The only problem was that her legs refused to make her go. Fang was getting impatient; she could see it from where she was.

"Try a running start!" He called to her. "It'll help." She nodded and walked a few feet back from the ledge, closed her eyes, and took off running.

When her eyes opened again, she was in the air. And Fang held his arms out to catch her. She put a foot on the ledge, and started to hoist herself up, but slipped and started falling. But Fang- acting with the reflexes of a cat- grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. She remained shaking in his arms, she had almost fallen.

But she hadn't.

Fang had caught her, just as he promised. She could feel his pleased smile against her head as he congratulated her for making the leap. She denied that she'd done it, saying that she'd fallen.

"The ledge isn't even." Fang assured her, moving her out of her embrace. She'd seen a grin on his face, so she knew he'd pleased him. Somehow, she was glad that she had; so she gave him a tiny smile back, and nodded. "Tomorrow night we'll try hunting."

"H-Hunting?"

"That's right; I know this great place where runaway kids go. They're easy enough to catch. These are things you're going to have to learn Fledgling." She narrowed her eyes, and crossed her arms. Fang had begun his decent to the bottom of the tower when he noticed she wasn't following him.

"I don't want to hunt." She told him sternly. "I'm not all that crazy about drinking blood."

"Well, tough. You're going to have to get over it sooner or later. You can't survive unless you feed off the blood of mortals."

"But—" she protested, but he wouldn't hear anymore of it.

"You're going." He said in a definite voice. "I'm not arguing with you over this, It's crucial to you're survival and drinking blood is part of the basics. End of discussion. Now come on, it's almost daylight." Bitterly, she followed behind him, muttering something like:

"You sound like my mother." Under her breath. Fang didn't pay any attention to that though; he didn't care all that much if he did sound like her mother. In all accounts- he probably did sound like a mother. But he was just teaching her the way Aldan had taught him.

Before going to his own room, Fang made sure Alice's room was safe from the sunlight. It was, so he went to his own. His bedroom was on the floor under Alice's, and he had an old photo of the woman he'd sketched in his notebook, except she looked prettier in the photo than she did in the notebook though.

He lifted the photo up once he sat on the bed, and took a few minutes to look at it.

_You were the one person I thought could understand…_Fang thought to himself, tracing the outline of the woman in the photo's face with his index finger. _You said you loved me…how wrong I was to believe a stupid woman like you…_ Anger boiled up inside him, she said she loved him! They'd had a child together! He had a family with her and she went and did what she did! How could she betray him like that?

Fang hurled the photo against the wall, and just as he did; he realized what he'd done. But he couldn't help it- if she really loved him she wouldn't have treated him the way she did.

Sighing, Fang got up and collected the pieces of the frame up off the floor, bringing the picture along with it.

_But no matter what you did to me…no matter what happened…I still do love you._ He took the picture out of the frame, and slid it into his ledger, behind about six or seven pages. Around the spot where the incident with the woman came in.

* * *

The runaway teenagers that Fang spoke of gathered in the park deep in its wooded areas so that no one could find them. Not only that but it was good shade if it rained. Fang told her on the way there that even in the 1800's; it was a great place to runaway to. 

"But unfortunately for those mortal teens, it's also prime hunting grounds for vampires and they're fledglings." Fang elaborated as they grew nearer and nearer to the park. He kept an eye on her at all times, to make sure she didn't try to run away while he wasn't paying attention.

"So it's like a safari Zone?"

"More or less," Fang replied, sliding down a steep slope of dirt, and catching Alice as she stumbled down it. She fell into his arms, and he placed her on the ground. He saw her look back behind them, searching for a way around where she was without drawing his attention. Fang grabbed her wrist and said "You're not going anywhere."

"Hey Fang" she said as she hurried behind him, stillness had over taken them before she spoke, so she decided to break the silence. She hated the quiet. Fang gave her his attention, curious about what she had to ask him. "When you were mortal, did you have a family?"

"Yes" Fang answered quickly, without giving her any of his attention at all. His head was looking around for the runaway teenagers that were supposed to be there.

"What were they like?"

"We're here." Fang answered, pulling her down beside him behind some bushes. "It's crucial you act swiftly, and don't take on too many targets at once. Just one person at a time, and not only that, they seem to all be teenage boys so…" He grabbed the first button on her white shirt and unbuttoned it. He unbuttoned two more by the time she pushed him away. "…There, you're breasts are nice and exposed. Go out there and act like you're a lost hooker."

"No way!" She yelled in a whisper, buttoning her shirt back up. "There's no way in hell I'm going to be a hooker."

"Listen, vampires are seductive. Besides" He grinned, thus, showing his tiny white fangs. Not only was he grinning, but he'd given the side of her left breast a good pat. "You've not nice, full breasts." She gave him a dirty look before she stood up and went to the teenagers.

She wasn't exactly sure how, but one of them was actually stupid enough to help her 'find her way out'. He helped her up a slope, and as he was walking her up the slope, he heard her whisper.

"You've got to get back to you're friends and leave." She sounded so serious that it actually frightened the boy a little. His pride-however- would not allow him to admit it. "Just believe me, it isn't safe here."

"Listen lady-"

"No, you've got to believe me. There is a vampire here- waiting for me to drink you're blood. Get out of here now and I won't."

"This is all ver-" Alice jumped back as the teenage boy fell to the ground, a big rock in the back of his head. She looked around and when her gaze returned to the boy, Fang was standing over him, with an extremely cross look on his face.

* * *

Aldan liked when the house was silent. He could hear the comfortable purring of Asha as she laid in her silk cat bed by the roaring fire as Aldan read a book about war times, picking out what was right and what was wrong about the particular war. 

"I still can't believe you're so stupid!" Fang's angry voice rang out through the castle, causing Aldan to sigh. There went his moment of peace and serenity.

"Let me go!" Alice yelled at him, trying to jerk her hand away as he pulled her down the hallways and eventually tossed her into her room.

"Don't you _ever_ try a stupid stunt like that again, or you'll spend the rest of you're endless life in here!" and he slammed the door shut.

Within a few seconds, Aldan saw Fang storm into the living room and let himself drop on the sofa.

"She almost got away with telling someone about our kind." Fang snapped at Aldan. "She doesn't understand that she has no choice in the matter anymore. Refusing to partake in the vampire way isn't going to make her mortal again." He saw an amused smile fall onto Aldan's face. "What?"

"She's a lot like you were when you were a fledgling." Aldan mused, keeping his eyes on his book. "Very stubborn, But don't worry. You came around, and so will she."

"I came around because I was hungry." He snapped coldly.

"So will she. Give her some time Fang, this is all still new to her. Don't you remember how frightened you were when you first became a vampire?"

"Yes but I had a family."

"So did she." Aldan snapped, but not harshly.

Fang had given Aldan a dirty look before leaving the room, all the while thinking about what he'd said. He did have a point; Alice did have a family, and was probably still frightened about being a vampire. He was no help by being brutal to her. But even if that was true, he doubted he ever tried to tell someone that he was a vampire and that they were in danger, and that was something vampires just didn't do. Oh well, he figured Aldan would talk to her about it later so that he wouldn't have to.


End file.
